July 10, 2012

Congressional Conservatives Should Resign

Tomorrow the House of Representatives plans to vote against the Affordable Care Act–for the 31st time. Because the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the law, they are taking another tack, to remove all money from the IRS to implement the plan.

Fortunately, the Democrats in the House are comparing “Obamacare” to “Romneycare,” showing Massachusetts’ success in its comprehensive health care reform.

Judge Richard Posner, a conservative on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, told NPR in an interview that he has become “less conservative … since the Republican Party started becoming goofy.” Over the past 10 years, Posner said, “There’s been a real deterioration in conservative thinking. And that has to lead people to re-examine and modify their thinking.”

In response to the right-wing’s vicious responses to Chief Justice John Roberts’ ruling on health care, Posner added, “Because if you put [yourself] in his position … what’s he supposed to think? That he finds his allies to be a bunch of crackpots? Does that help the conservative movement? I mean, what would you do if you were Roberts? All the sudden you find out that the people you thought were your friends have turned against you, they despise you, they mistreat you, they leak to the press. What do you do? Do you become more conservative? Or do you say, ‘What am I doing with this crowd of lunatics?’ Right? Maybe you have to re-examine your position.”

When Posner uses words like “lunatics” and “crackpots,” he’s apparently referring to the other conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Former leaders in the GOP are highly disgusted with the actions of the current House conservatives. Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) gave this advice last summer, recommending that lawmakers who aren’t willing to compromise should not serve in Congress. “If you can’t compromise on anything, go home,” Simpson told NPR. “If you can’t learn to compromise on an issue without compromising yourself, then you shouldn’t be a legislator.”

Former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel (NE) blasted Republican leadership for their “irresponsible actions” during the debt ceiling debacle a year ago: “I think about some of the presidents we’ve had on my side of the aisle — Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., go right through them, Eisenhower — they would be stunned.” Disgusted with the debt ceiling negotiations, Hagel called it “an astounding lack of responsible leadership by many in the Republican party, and I say that as a Republican.” Hagel added that the Republican party is too captive to the Tea Party movement that is “very ideological” and “very narrow.” He said, “I’ve never seen so much intolerance as I’ve seen today.”

Former Florida governor and Republican, Jeb Bush, said that the GOP is “short-sighted” on tax and immigration policies, which is not what the GOP mainstream wants to hear. At the same time, he endorsed President Obama’s philosophy about the economic “headwinds” from Europe and agreed with the president’s statement that both Ronald Reagan and his father, George H. W. Bush, would have a hard time getting nominated by today’s Republican Party.

Even Richard Nixon would have been disgusted with the current crop of Republicans as shown by his definition of “liberal.” In quoting Franklin D. Roosevelt’s definition of the word, Nixon said, “It is a wonderful definition, and I agree with him.” The definition? “A liberal is a man who wants to build bridges over the chasms that separate humanity from a better life.” The president who resigned before being impeached 40 years ago makes today’s Republican lawmakers look totally selfish and unethical.